leaving the door open
by umorna
Summary: the 8 x 16 door scene, with Donna and Harvey of course, but also with and from the point of view of one of Donna's slightly confused and worried neighbors.


**Hello :) I want to start with a very short explanation:**  
**I rewatched the scene from 8 x 16 sooo often and I love it, it still gives me butterflies, but the first time I watched it with my pounding heart, one of my very first thoughts was that they didn't close Donna's door. And what if a neighbor just came by? Or what if a neighbor was standing there on the floor?**  
**So, that's basically the idea behind this OS. Rewatching now I see the shadow of the door and how it closes but the idea for this was still on my mind and I thought it might be an interesting different POV.**  
**I usually don't write in English, but I wanted to try it with this one. I hope it's not terrible and I hope that someone maybe finds it even amusing or enjoys it.  
(as for title inspo: I went with _Getting Closer_ by _Justin Jesso_)**

* * *

**leaving the door open**

While I was carrying my paper grocery bags to the lift, I started to think about my keys and where I put them. My trouser pockets? Very carefully I reached with my pinkie finger into the left pocket, trying not to let the bags in my arms slip. Nothing.  
Right pocket. Nothing.  
_Shit._  
I stepped into the lift and pressed the button to my floor. At this point I was convinced that my keys were at the very bottom of one of those paper bags hidden under all the groceries.  
_Damn. This happens every time._  
I sighed and watched the numbers of the lift monitor get higher.  
_Should I have lasagne tonight? It would take too long. I'm hungry now and I can't wait.  
Spaghetti? Yeah. I bought the cheap sauce Bolognese which I love. My ex hated it passionately. She also used to make fun of me and how I basically lived off pasta._  
_I'm sure you love pasta more than me,_ _she used to say._ _Maybe I did._  
I listened to the _pling_ sound that the lift made and stepped out of it.  
_Maybe I loved pasta more and that was a problem, but the main problem eventually was that I have commitment issues._  
I sighed again, adjusted the bags a bit in my arms, carefully, so I wouldn't rip the paper, and continued walking to my apartment. I looked at my neighbor's door.

_206_

She's a sweetheart. I wondered for a moment what she was doing tonight and whether I should knock at her door later to ask if she wanted to drink a glass, or two, of that French wine that she loves, and I pretend to like as well. I looked away again and continued walking and balancing. The bags were becoming heavier and my hands sweatier.  
I think she was seeing someone though. I'm pretty sure that last time we were sitting together she wasn't as focused as usually. Her mind seemed to be somewhere else...

"_Maybe I should leave," I said.  
"Nooo!" Donna shook her head and put the phone, which was in her hand, down on the coffee table. "Sorry. I didn't mean to… It's just… there's a lot going on in the firm currently."  
"Don't be sorry! I know how busy your job is." Even though I don't even really understand what her job is. I just know that she leaves very early and comes back home very late and for some reason still looks like she could be a model in one of those business magazines and not an overworked, tired woman. I also know that it's something with lawyers and suits. She sometimes mentions some names. Louis, the theatre lover - a little strange but with a golden heart. Mike and Rachel, the married coupl, that left the city. I remember how she showed me the pictures from their wedding and, maybe she caught me staring or simply did her Donna thing, she told me that if Rachel were into girls and single, she would have set up a blind date for me long ago.  
And of course, she talks about Harvey. I'm not sure how I am supposed to describe him. Her stories about him sound a bit ambivalent to me but she likes him a lot, that I can tell. Not that she explicitly used those words. When she talks about him her voice changes. It becomes softer then and I always wondered whether she liked him like that. In a softer way than her stories wanted me to think that she likes him.  
I smiled at her and stood up from the sofa, a little shaky after four glasses of wine. "It's late anyway and I have this one casting tomorrow." It's nothing special, only an ad for a not so popular make up brand, but I hadn't had a proper acting job in a while now, I need to pay my rent and I'm hoping for the best.  
The smile that she gave me was warm and genuine. "You will get the job, Maria."  
Oh I wish I was as sure about it as she seemed to be. She's always supporting of me and my, to phrase it with my parents' words, not-so-promising-and-completely-delusional-acting-career.  
"Your parents still haven't visited you here," she wasn't asking, she was reading my mind.  
I shook my head. They haven't even watched any of my stuff. Not the 30 seconds ads, not the music videos, in which I had three second scenes and not the Netflix show, which was cancelled after the first season, but in which I was on five whole episodes. "They can't. They work a lot and Dad fears flying. It's a long journey from there to America, you know?" I gave her a tired smile. Those were excuses and we both knew it, but I wasn't in the mood to think about it too much.  
"Take care of yourself," she said.  
"You too, Donna." _

I put down the bags and searched my pockets for the keys again. Still nothing besides that one cinema ticket from the date I had with that one girl, that wouldn't stop talking during the whole movie. I obviously never asked for a second date.  
I started putting out everything out of the first bag. And while I was putting strawberries, eggs, sauces, French wine bottles, chocolate bars and all shapes of pasta on the ground, I was thinking about how maybe my parents were right. Maybe my dreams were delusional. Maybe I should have just started working at mom's firm and hate it every day of my life but have some stability in life. Marry a guy, not love him but start a family, do everything the _normal_ way.  
The lights in the corridor went off.  
"Oh fuck."  
_What a lovely night, huh?_ Sitting in the darkness, groceries across the floor, alone and still no keys found. I sat there for a bit and didn't move. _Was this a sign? Should I move back home again?_  
The lift made that familiar _pling_ sound again. Someone was arriving.  
I jumped up; the person turned the lights back on again. I was ready to smile politely and act like I hadn't just had a breakdown because I couldn't find my keys and was regretting my life choices.  
The person was no one I've ever met before, but I knew who he was. He wore a gray suit, elegant and expensive. I could imagine that women, that are attracted to men, would fall for a guy like him. He had a pretty face. The look on his face was determined, he seemed out of breath, like he just ran a mile and his brown eyes focused on the door right across mine.  
That was Harvey Specter. Donna's Harvey.  
I didn't remember her ever telling me that he visits her here. In fact, I don't remember her mentioning him ever being in her apartment.  
For a second I wanted to say something to him. But I didn't know what.  
In the next second he ran to Donna's apartment.  
_Did something happen?_  
The way he knocked combined with the look on his face made me suddenly concerned.  
_I really hope that nothing happened to Donna… Please, nothing bad. Please, no more bad news._  
I stood there in my own chaos, hoping she would open the door and be alright. Maybe I could even ask her for my spare key, that she kept for me for cases just like this one tonight.

And then she opened the door.

I felt relief when I saw her in the satin pyjamas. I wanted to wave; my hand was already in the air, but I stopped.  
She didn't see me, she was looking only at him with a surprised look. It didn't seem like she was expecting to see him tonight at her door either.  
Her expression changed promptly.  
Like her voice when she talks about him, it became softer, she nearly smiled, stepped back.  
They didn't say a word. Not even a simple _hello_ or_ hi_ or _how are you_ or _what are you doing here in front of my door in the middle of the night_. Nothing.  
I could only see his back, but he stepped inside of her apartment.  
And suddenly everything happened quickly.

They stood very close to each other, kissed, hands everywhere, touching, heavy breathing, more kissing.

_What is going oooon?_  
I looked away because I felt like it was very wrong to watch my neighbour make out with her… boss? Colleague? Crush?  
_I don't even know._  
On the other hand, the door to her apartment was still wide open, while I was over here in front of my still very closed and locked door.  
_I wasn't doing anything bad or forbidden. Or was I?_  
I emptied my second paper bag as fast but also as carefully as I could to not attract any attention, even though I was sure that those two were in their own bubble right now and wouldn't even hear me and my desperate attempt to find those damn keys.  
Bags of chips, parmesan cheese, tomatoes, a new toothbrush, whipped cream.  
_There!_  
Hidden behind a box of cookies was my silver _I 3 NY _chain. I grabbed it and formed a silent _Thank God _with my lips.  
I turned around one more time to throw a last look into Donna's apartment. Her grey cardigan was on the floor, her red hair tousled, and she was holding his hand, leading him out of her entrance corridor into the living room.  
It felt too intimate for me to be looking at the whole scene.  
_I wasn't supposed to see this. _

The door was still open.

_Were they aware that the door to her apartment was still open? Also, what exactly did I just witness? Should I simply go back to my own, lonely apartment and not care about her open door?_  
The last thing that I saw was him dropping his jacket and following her. His eyes were full of lust, I guess, but more than anything full of love.  
_Donna deserves that. She deserves someone that looks at her the way he just did.  
_However, I was sure that she didn't want anyone to join them or our whole floor to hear and see what happens in there tonight.  
I jumped over my groceries, crashed a bag of chips, nearly fell, sprinted to Donna's door and finally, quietly closed it.  
I let out a relieved sigh.  
Maybe it was good that I always forgot to put my keys somewhere I could find them quickly and easily. Maybe it was good that I was still there in front of my door when he arrived dramatically like some guy in a tv show final. And maybe some things need some time but then turn out exactly how they are supposed to be.


End file.
